Motivational message

Finding a Purpose in Life. 26 People Who Inspired the World by R. M. Lala. Published in 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers India, A - 53, Sector 57, Noida 201301. Pp: xiii+116.

Price: Rs 150.

In his book In Search of Ethical Leader- ship first published in 1986 Russi M. Lala identified 13 qualities of leadership after studying the lives of some of mankind’s greatest leaders. Now con- tinuing in a somewhat similar vein, Lala in this slim volume Finding a Purpose in Life attempts to answer questions which many of us have had to face: What is my place in this world? How can I find a direction and pursue a purpose higher than my own advancement? As Lala puts it wonderfully well in the opening lines of the Preface: "There is a pilgrim soul in all of us, an inner searching that continues throughout our lives.” Lala recounts how when faced with these questions he found an immediate outlet in frenzied activity — something many of us are familiar with.

Lala says that a career is not a pur- pose. "A noble purpose is one that is deeply satisfying not only to your own self but also beneficial to others. Lucky are those whose career and purpose match. The rest of us have to find a purpose beyond our careers or within them.” The book is divided into six sections. The first deals with three person- alities (Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lin- coln and Albert Schweitzer) who have all, according to the au- thor, shown the power of purpose. The second sec- tion considers the differ- ence between ambition and purpose, career and purpose and instinctive and acquired purpose.

The third section addresses how com- passion and the compassionate work of distinguished individuals have affected the lives of those around them: Mar- tin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The next sec-

tion deals with pur- pose that continues from father to son (Baba Amte and Prakash Amte). In the fifth Lala dis- cusses the leader- ship of A. P. J.Abdul Kalam. In the last section which is essentially a summing up, he deals with the pathways to finding a purpose in life.

Lala cites the example of Jamsetji Tata and says that a noble purpose gives meaning to one’s own life and is of benefit to others. Tata took up the cause of India’s advancement and soon this purpose became a passion. While we all cannot be Jamsetji Tata, Lala feels that by listening to the voice deep within us, we too can discover our calling. In a very telling anecdote about ambition Lala nar- rates what Sir John Hunt (who led the first successful expedition to Mount Everest) told him when he (Lala) asked him if he had not been tempted to become the third man on Mt Everest. Sir John replied that the weather was good and he could have made a successful attempt at the summit. But, he added, "We had always seen it as an integrated venture. It mattered tremendously that someone should go to the top — not who. It is not getting on top of Mt Everest that matters in life. It is how and why you get there. And sometimes it is better not to get to the top of a mountain at all. The victor on the mountain is the man

who can conquer his am- bition, if need be.”

Lala uses the lives of 26 people to illustrate his main theme. They in- clude Asoka the Great, Ratan Tata, H. T. Parekh, General William Booth, Vinoba Bhave, M. S. Swaminathan (to whom the book is dedicated), Mother Teresa, Sudha and Narayana Murthy and Baba Amte. He main- tains that purpose does not descend from heaven but is the product of one’s own search and above all a desire to "let go and let God show you the direction.” Purpose gives a deeper meaning to life and makes it fulfilling. "If your search for a purpose is with yourself in the center, you may run round in circles for a long time. But if it is focused on other people or a cause beneficial to your fellowmen, you may find your own destiny sooner.” Com- passion is often the trigger for many a noble action but one needs to be selfless. And purpose once found needs to be sustained; and if we are not in the center of it all success or failure becomes unim- portant. The strongest impetus for a noble purpose, as Lala demonstrates through the lives of the many personages in the book, is love. And the biggest impedi- ments are bitterness, hate and unbridled ambition for one’s own self. Other ob- stacles can appear in the form of fear, doubt, low self-esteem, temptation and vanity and we need to examine our lives daily to see where we spend our time and energies.

The last lines of this inspirational and motivational book are to my mind at the heart of Lala’s message to his readers. "You will never find a higher purpose until you look beyond yourself to the needs of other people.” Lala’s quote of the poet Carlos Rodriguez in an earlier chapter sums up the message of the book perfectly:

"I sought my soul, my soul I could not see,/I sought my God, my God eluded me,/I sought my brother, I found all three.”

BAKHTIAR DADABHOY